UN sets own inquiry of 1999 rampage in East Timor
UN sets own inquiry of 1999 rampage in East Timor
The United Nations will conduct its own inquiry into a 1999
rampage in which Indonesian gangs killed about 1,000 East
Timorese, despite pleas from Indonesia and East Timor to leave
the probe to them.
The decision by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to go ahead
with a review, though announced on Friday, was disclosed to the
Security Council over a month ago, said UN chief spokesman Fred
Eckhard.
Indonesia and East Timor, a former Portuguese colony occupied
by Indonesia after the end of colonial rule, announced plans on
Dec. 21 to create a joint commission in hopes of putting behind
them any lingering bitterness over the 1999 violence.
In setting up a Commission on Truth and Friendship, Indonesia
and East Timor had said they hoped to head off a parallel
initiative by Annan, who was considering creating his own expert
commission to review whether justice was done.
But Annan did not go along with that plan, Eckhard said on
Friday.
"The secretary-general is of the view that the work of the
(UN) commission could complement that of the Truth and Friendship
Commission, and expresses his hope that the governments of
Indonesia and Timor-Leste (East Timor) will extend full
cooperation to the Commission of Experts," Eckhard said.
An Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman said on Saturday the
commission set up by the two countries was the only proper way to
review the events of 1999 and then move forward.
"With the greatest respect, we feel that it's important to
acknowledge the two countries' own efforts in this," Indonesian
foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.
"Not only because they are the most relevant parties but
because as a result, the process will directly have beneficial
effects to the two countries' future relations rather than
something which may be operationally perfect but...is an outside
mechanism," he told Reuters in Jakarta.
Asked if Indonesia would cooperate with the U.N. commission,
Natalegawa said: "We have expressed the view that the review is
redundant and we will work within the commission that has been
established with Timor Leste (East Timor)". -- Agencies